Middle Class Blue Collar Man Weighs In On Bernie Sanders

A friend of mine posted a rant on Facebook and I felt it was too good to not share. I am doing so with permission:

UPDATE (2/20/2019):Since original publication he is permanently disabled, currently in a wheelchair between surgeries, has sold all his tools and equipment since his injuries preclude him from working in his lifelong trade.

For a good twenty years, I’ve been breathing carcinogenic fumes through the cheapest respirator I could get, or working on rooftops, or working with dangerous power tools, or welding, or getting paint in my eyes, or underneath cars, or sweating outside in the sun, or demolishing old plaster walls, or getting covered in drywall dust, or risking my body in some other unsafe way, sometimes ten hours a day, making $100 a day on average, 5 days a week, if I’m lucky and busy.

In an average month, that’s $2,000 a month. And it’s been below the average lately.

Rent is about half that per month in my part of the country for a decent house to raise my kid in. Gas, electric, water (+ $300), internet (no cable), truck payment, gas for a blue collar (big-truck-needing) gas-hog work truck +$350), Netflix (cheaper than cable, sue me), generic groceries, and twenty extra bucks to do something fun with my kid once a week (+300)…

That’s fifty bucks extra a month. Hope the truck doesn’t break down. Or I get injured. Or fucking ANYTHING AT ALL HAPPENS. Or, dear me, hope I don’t want to own a house.

☆[I’m worried, at this point in my little essay here, I will begin to lose those of you who don’t vote, or aren’t into politics. Please, stay with me.]☆

And there’s three things a conservative rich fuck better not even DARE telling me about that list:

Read that first sentence again; don’t even THINK about saying I don’t work hard enough.

I don’t want to hear about getting an education; the degree I’m chasing is in physics. I’ll bet I’m smarter than almost every fucking one of those soft-skinned millionaires and billionaires, but had shittier luck. I’m human.

Don’t tell me to eat healthier. I buy what I can afford.

So when Republicans talk about Planned Parenthood and government shutdowns, I listen. We “lower class” citizens NEED to have Planned Parenthood; it’s not like they’re providing us universal health care without a fight.

When Republicans talk about the second amendment, I listen. Because there’s nothing about a redneck carrying an assault rifle into the grocery store that screams “well-regulated” to me. And it’s not like I could afford a gunshot wound. You know, needing health care while I’m recovering and unable to pay bills.

When Republicans talk about allowing vaccine “freedom”, I listen. I can’t afford to get the MOTHERFUCKING MEASLES THAT WERE ERADICATED IN THIS COUNTRY FIFTEEN MOTHERFUCKING YEARS AGO. Because again, no universal health care.

When Republicans talk about income equality… Oh. Never mind. They don’t. What’s that? “Why?”, you say? Well, because they have the money. Their tax system allows them to keep their money, while we have to give them some of OUR money. Neat system, huh? See, THAT way, they can keep getting MORE money. And keep keeping it, too. Shit ain’t FREE, brother! Gotta keep paying for those trips to Belize, the escorts to keep them company, the chemical “entertainment”…

It isn’t just about “burger flippers” getting a reasonable wage, although that’s part. See, they work hard too. Plus the “upper class” still needs the shit we “lower class” citizens make. And I agree with the original poster; sometimes you’ve got kids. Sometimes you’ve got medical bills. Sometimes life gets in the goddamned way of your dreams, no matter how hard you work for them. Read my list again, and take note how low in priority FOOD is.

But it’s also about the economic elite getting to influence the legislation, in ways obviously favorable towards themselves. We pay twenty or more percent of our wages to fund the government’s day-to-day operations, and they get to store their money outside the country and evade paying, in many cases, ANY taxes.

The elected officials they court fly first class to Belize with the aforementioned hookers and blow to discuss “domestic policy” with their billionaire campaign contributors. And sometimes they’ll just flat out BUY an election, guaranteeing an elected government official will always vote in their favor. That’s why there’s guns everywhere. Unregulated guns. School shootings. Church massacres. That’s why we don’t have realistic alternative energy options. And ozone depletion. And global warming. That’s why we have a constant American presence in the Middle East. And dead soldiers. Fathers. Brothers. Mothers. Sisters. CHILDREN.

And Democrats are no better. Different causes, same results. Yes, Hillary, too.

All for money.

When Bernie Sanders talks about income equality, I listen. But that’s different. Bernie Sanders is different. He walks to work. He flies coach. His largest campaign contributors are labor unions (not banks and corporations). He doesn’t run negative campaigns. He agrees with scientific consensus; doctors, nurses, climatologists, and Neil deGrasse Tyson (♡). He doesn’t take corporate contributions.

That’s a big one. He’s funded by small donations from regular people like us, $2 or $3 at a time. We can’t afford more, and he knows it. And he wants to help.

Just read about him. Watch a speech from him. Like him on Facebook and scroll through his posts. I don’t have to convince you. He will.

He’s the one we’ve been waiting for.

Unless you’re happy with the daily struggle and pleased with the government’s way of doing business, JOIN THE REVOLUTION.

Vote for Bernie in the primary election! Let’s get him the Democratic nomination!